Norma Vila Rivero
San Juan, PR
Biography Details
Photographer, multimedia artist, exhibit coordinator and cultural manager. Received a bachelor’s degree in visual arts from Universidad del Sagrado Corazón (2005) and a master’s degree in Art Administration in Ana G. Mendez, Universidad del Turabo (2010). In 2011, she co-founded METRO: plataformaorganizada, an artist run space, and from 2015 until 2018 was the Director of ÁREA: lugar de proyectos. In 2017, she was selected to participate with Occupy Museums Debt Fair installation at the Whitney Museum Biennial. In 2020, she presents her solo exhibition entitled “Una metáfora contra el olvido”, at the art museum of the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus. Her work has been presented in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Norway, Ecuador, Mallorca, Switzerland, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Perú, Saint Croix and many states of the U.S. Vila Rivero employs a broad spectrum of mediums to explore social science, phenomenology, semantics, and the human condition in an artistic practice that weds aesthetics to social engagement. The aim is to subtly address emotional issues or intense social themes from a humanist point of view. Through photography, installation, and mixed media, Vila Rivero has criticized and offered a comment on the role of religion in Wars, the immigrant condition, the economic inequality due to gender and recently the environmental sustainability in the face of economic growth.
Artist Statement
"My approach to Art comes from a diverse number of perspectives and media, while working with context, symbols, and associations that refer to conceptual and process art. Motivated by impactful themes, I address emotional and social issues from a humanist point of view. The aim is to subtly create works whose meaning is elaborated and interwoven in a contemplative-collective network instead of being suspended in a space for individual consumption. Often responding to social oriented themes, objects with high significance, or situations in my surroundings. Site specificity is usually the point of departure for my creative process, involving research into the site and its surrounding geographical impacts. I always try to combine many disciplines that work inclusively and socially.
Currently, my work offers a critical look at the transformation of Puerto Rico’s environment. Inspired by two themes, landscape and absence, my intention is to convey a wake-up call about the effects of economic growth on environmental sustainability and the island’s inhabitants. For 16 years, through photography, interventions-installation or mixed media, I have commented on social problems that concern me. Whether to criticize or comment on our condition as a colony, the role of religion in wars, the condition of the immigrant, economic inequality by gender and recently environmental sustainability in the face of economic growth. I analyze and aesthetically approach those conflicts and resistances. It is important to make them relate to each other to unite aesthetics with social commitment."
Norma Vila Rivero, 2020
Formation
Education
2018
- Summer Program in Design, Society and Cultures of Display in Museums. VRIJE University, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2010
- Master in Arts Administration. Ana G. Méndez, Universidad del Turabo, Gurabo, Puerto Rico
2005
- Bachelor in Visual Arts. Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Professional Experience
2015-2018
- Director. ÁREA: lugar de proyectos, Caguas, Puerto Rico
2011
- Cofounder. METRO: plataformaorganizada, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Exhibitions
Solo Shows
2020
- Una metáfora contra el olvido, Museo de Arte de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
2019
- A Metaphor Against Oblivion (Una metáfora contra el olvido), PÚBLICA Espacio, Santurce, Puerto Rico
2018
-
A Metaphor Against Oblivion (Una metáfora contra el olvido), John & June Alcott Gallery at The Hanes Center of North Carolina University, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
2014
- Cuestión de Tiempo y Empatía (About Time & Empathy), Rest. El Quenepo, Santurce, Puerto Rico
2012
- DESAFORADOS, METRO: plataformaorganizada, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2009
- An Echo/A Stain, ÁREA; lugar de proyectos, Caguas, Puerto Rico
- Invasion: Our Daily Bread v.2, The Caribbean Center for The Arts, Frederiksted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
- Invasion: Our Daily Bread v.2, Galería PL900, Casa Aboy, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Group Shows
2020
- Aquí no pasa nada, La Embajada, Mexico
- TODXS, Colección Hernández Castrodad Museo de Arte y Diseño de Miramar, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Archivos, Visiones y Premoniciones, Taller Boricua, New York, United States
- Acervo, Historia y Futuro: Museo de Arte de Caguas, Museo de Arte de Caguas, Caguas, Puerto Rico
2019
- Anarquía y dialéctica en el deseo: géneros y marginalidad en Puerto Rico, Parte I, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, Santurce, Puerto Rico
- Subasta 2019, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- ABRAZOS a Néstor Otero, PÚBLICA, Santurce, Puerto Rico
- Habitar, Museo y Centro de Estudios Humanísticos Dra. Josefina de la Nuez, Universidad Ana G. Mendez, Gurabo, Puerto Rico
- A Metaphor Against Oblivion (Postcards Series), The Franklin Outdoor, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Wish you were here 19, A.I.R Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, United States
- Waiting for the Garden of Eden, WHITE BOX GALLERY, New York, United States
- Repensar la Ciudad: Colección Iris y José Hernández Castrodad Museo y Centro de Estudios Humanísticos Dra. Josefina de la Nuez, Universidad Ana G. Méndez, Gurabo, Puerto Rico
- Subasta Obras de Arte Pro Sala Noemí Ruíz Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico, Metropolitan Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2018
- Muestra Nacional 2018, Arsenal de la Puntilla, Instituto de Cultura de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- María Categoria 6, La Marqueta Retoña, 1590 Park Ave, New York, United States
- APOYARTE III, Museo de Las Américas, Cuartel de Ballajá, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2017
- Debtfair, Occupy Museums, Whitney Biennial 2017, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York, United States
- "IDA y VUELTA" Museo de Historia y Antropología de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Censura – Desconexión, DIAGONAL, Santurce, Puerto Rico
- SIMULACRO, El Polvorín, Parque Luís Muñoz Rivera, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Wish you were here 17, A.I.R Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, United States
- Postal_Correspondencia, El Lobi, Santurce, Puerto Rico
2016
- Acts of Seditions, WHITEBOX Gallery, New York, United States
- Fish Story, CONTEMPO: 2016 Contemporary Art Festival / Art Box C8, Varna, Bulgaria
- INFERNO Part I & II, Pristine Galerie, Monterrey, Mexico
- Under A Black Sun/Pt.1, Bergen Kjøtt, Bergen, Norway
- Proyecto Libre, Casa Oppenheimer, Ponce, Puerto Rico
2015
- Muestra Nacional 2015, Arsenal de la Puntilla, Instituto de Cultura de PR, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Wish you were here 15, A.I.R Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, United States
- Saltando Muros, Muestra Itinerante de la Fundacion Fiart, Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico
- "Estado: experiencia fragmentada", Museo de Arte de Caguas, Caguas, Puerto Rico
- Un Verano en Puerta de Tierra, Calle San Agustin #258, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2014
- Wish you were here 14, A.I.R Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, United States
- 15 meses, Doble O, Santurce, Puerto Rico
- Festival PalmaPhoto 2014, Museo de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo de Palma, Mallorca, Spain
- COLLECTORS III: Discerning Eyes, New Bedford Art Museum, Massachusetts, United States
- El artista coleccionista, Museo de Arte Dr. Pío López Martínez, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus, Cayey, Puerto Rico
- Saltando Muros 2013-2015 (Muestra Iberoamericana), Centro Cultural ‘Libertador Simón Bolívar’ (Museo Antropológico y de Arte Contemporáneo, MAAC) del Banco Central del Ecuador, Guayaquil, Ecuador
- Saltando Muros 2013-2015 (Muestra Iberoamericana), Galería ICPNA La Molina del Instituto Cultural Peruano Norteamericano de Lima, Peru
2013
- Saltando Muros 2013-2015 (Muestra Iberoamericana), Biblioteca Vasconcelos de Mexico City, Mexico
- Wish You Were Here 12, A.I.R Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, United States
- Muestra Nacional 2013, Arsenal de la Puntilla, Instituto de Cultura de PR, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Carry-On, Puerto Rico Inspected, GC MUSEUM at Georgia College and State University, Georgia, United States
- Impresiones, relieves y resonancias, Museo de Arte Dr. Pío López Martínez, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus, Cayey, Puerto Rico
- Concrete Illusions (Hernández Castrodad Collection), Abrazo interno Gallery, The Clemente Soto Vélez, Manhattan, Nueva York, United States
2012
- Doble Filo, La Galería, Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- Carry-On: Puerto Rico Inspected, National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture, Chicago, Illinois, United States
- ÁREA Group Show, < I >ndependientes, Casa de los Contrafuertes, Trienal Poligráfica de San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- FOTORAMA, Galería 778, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2011
- The Dialectic City [Document | Context], Laboratorio de Artes Binarios, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Carry-On: Puerto Rico Inspected, Abrazo Gallery at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center, New York, United State
- Muestra Nacional de Arte 2011/ "Arte en el medio: 35 años de fotografía en Puerto Rico", Arsenal de la Puntilla, Instituto de Cultura de PR, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Am Ufer, Peripher, Zurich, Switzerland
- Carry-On: Puerto Rico Inspected, Abrazo Gallery at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center, New York, United State
- Fase 1, METRO: plataformaorganizada, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Nuestro negocio es la cooperación: Boricuas Bestiales, El Nuevo Museo Energía de Arte Contemporáneo, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- En passant, Peripher, Zurich, Switzerland
- Pocket, Cart Wash, Santurce, Puerto Rico
- Los Desalojados; colectiva de los artistas moradores del área, Museo de Arte de Caguas, Caguas, Puerto Rico
- Entre líneas Frade y el dibujo contemporáneo, Museo de Arte Dr. Pío López Martínez, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Cayey, Cayey, Puerto Rico
- The Last Book, Biblioteca Aguilar of the New York Public Library, New York, United States
2010
- 12" x 12", Galería Yemayá, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- TIPOGRAFÍA, Festival de La Palabra, Cuartel de Ballajá, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- The Last Book, Zentral Bibliothek, Zurich, Switzerland
2009
- Daily Strife, The Caribbean Center for The Arts, Frederiksted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
- CHIQUITOLINA, Galería La 15, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Misterios Naturales, La Nómada, Calle San Francisco, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- 12" x 12", Galería Yemayá, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- The Last Book, Biblioteca Nacional Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2008
- ABSURDO, Galería La 15, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- ANGORA 2.0, Caguas, Puerto Rico
- Actions, The Workplace and The Ephemeral, José Meléndez Gallery, Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Terruño y Paraíso Perdido, diálogos con la obra de Carlos Osorio, Museo de Arte de Caguas, Caguas, Puerto Rico
- Lies, Another Roadside Attraction, United Kingdom
2007
- ReMapping the CARIBBEAN, Museo de Las Casas Reales, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- BASTARDOS, Galería Petrus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- ANGORA, Angora Industrial Center, Caguas, Puerto Rico
- Terruño y Paraíso Perdido, diálogos con la obra de Carlos Osorio, Museo de las Américas, Cuartel de Ballajá, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2006
- Muestra Nacional 05-06, Arsenal de la Puntilla, Instituto de Cultura de PR, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- La Feria, =DESTO Espacio Alternativo, Santurce, Puerto Rico
- HECATOMBE, ÁREA: lugar de Proyectos, Caguas, Puerto Rico
Awards, Distinctions and Achievements
2020
- Artist Fund. NALAC LATINO, Puerto Rico
2018
- El Serrucho Grant. Beta-Local, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2013
-
Finalist of the Ibero-American Photographic Projects Contest. Fundación Fondo Internacional de las Artes, Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico
2009
- Artistic Residence. ÁREA; lugar de proyectos, Caguas, Puerto Rico
Collections
- Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museo y Centro de Estudios Humanísticos Dra. Josefina de la Nuez, Universidad Ana G. Méndez, Gurabo, Puerto Rico
- The Foundation FIART, Madrid, Spain
- Luciano Benetton, Treviso, Italy
- Museo de Arte de Caguas, Caguas, Puerto Rico
Bibliography
Catalogs
“Catálogo Muestra Nacional 2005-2006”, Arsenal de La Puntilla, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan,
Puerto Rico, 2006
“Catálogo Muestra Nacional 2011 / Arte en el medio: 35 años de fotografiía en PR”, Arsenal de La Puntilla, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2011
“The Dialectic City [Document | Context]”, Laboratorio de Artes Binarios (LAB) - Santurce, Puerto Rico, 2011.
“Saltando Muros” Fondo Internacional de las Artes.15 de octubre de 2014. https://issuu.com/saltandomuros/docs/catalogo
Books
Benetton, Luciano. “Caribbean: Together Apart”. Italia: Imago Mundi. 2014.
Newspapers
Roldán Soto, Camille. “Exhibición busca rescatar del olvido los paisajes que ya no existen”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, Puerto Rico), 10 de febrero de 2019. https://www.elnuevodia.com/entretenimiento/cultura/notas/exhibicion-busc...
“JUNTXS: Colección Hernández Castrodad se exhibe en el MADMi”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, Puerto Rico), 17 de agosto de 2020. https://www.elnuevodia.com/entretenimiento/cultura/notas/juntxs-coleccio...
“Inaugura exhibición fotográfica Archivos, visiones y premoniciones”. El Nuevo Día (San Juan, Puerto Rico), 14 de enero de 2020. https://www.elnuevodia.com/entretenimiento/cultura/notas/inaugura-exhibi...
“La migración como protagonista”. El Vocero (San Juan, Puerto Rico), 20 de diciembre de 2017. https://www.elvocero.com/habitat/la-migraci-n-como-protagonista/article_...
Magazines
Vélez, Pedro. “Lo Mejor y lo Peor de CIRCA 07” Revista PROTOTIPO, ed. Agosto 2007
Web
https://normavila.com/home.html
“Defying Darkness: The Need for Creative and Cultural First Responders by Barry Bergey”. CERF+ News, CERFT+ The Artists Safety Net. April 30, 2019. https://cerfplus.org/defying-darkness-the-need-for-creative-and-cultural...
Vélez, Pedro. “Puerto Rican Sun”. ArtNet, 5 de enero de 2009. http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/reviews/velez/velez1-5-09.asp
“Event: Waiting for the Garden of Eden”. White Box NYC (New York, United States), March 7, 2019. http://whiteboxnyc.org/event/12526/
“Egresados exponen en prestigiosa Bienal de Whitney”. In Sagrado (San Juan, Puerto Rico), 24 de marzo de 2017. https://insagrado.sagrado.edu/whitney/
“Una metáfora contra el olvido presenta el paisaje que nos rodea”. In Sagrado (San Juan, Puerto Rico), 6 de noviembre de 2018. https://insagrado.sagrado.edu/nvilagale18/
“Art Exhibition: Norma Vila Rivero’s ‘Desaforados’ and Javier Bosques’ ‘Metonimia’”. Repeating Islands, June 7, 2012. https://repeatingislands.com/2012/06/07/art-exhibition-norma-vila-rivero...
Roman, Arnaldo. “An Echo / A Stain: Norma Vila Rivera en Área”. Tranceliquido.com, 14 de octubre de 2009. http://www.tranceliquido.com/an-echo-a-stain-norma-vila-rivera-en-area/